Dustin Diamond Net Worth

What was Dustin Diamond's Net Worth and Salary?

Dustin Diamond was an American actor, musician, director, and stand-up comedian who had a net worth of $200 thousand at the time of his death in 2021.

Dustin Diamond was most widely recognized for his role as Screech on the beloved 1990s television show "Saved by the Bell" and its spin-off series. After the various "Saved by the Bell" programs ended, Dustin worked primarily as a stand-up comedian and reality show star. Tragically, Dustin Diamond died on February 1, 2021, at the age of 44. He had been suffering from stage 4 small-cell carcinoma.

Early Life

Dustin Neil Diamond was born on January 7, 1977, in San Jose, California. His family was technologically inclined–his dad taught for a computer-processing firm, and his mom was a computer operator for the phone company Pacific Bell. Dustin began acting as a child and was 11 years old when he was cast in the first season of "Saved by the Bell" in the fall of 1988.

Career

Diamond is, of course, best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers on "Saved by the Bell," and several related spinoffs, including "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class." The series aired 13 episodes under its original title, "Good Morning, Miss Bliss," from 1988 to 1989. It then ran 82 episodes from 1989 to 1993 as "Saved by the Bell". "The College Years" aired 19 episodes. "The New Class" aired 143 episodes, with Dustin appearing in 67. Diamond played Bayside High's Principal Belding's assistant in the last iteration of the show.

After "Saved by the Bell" was over, Diamond found work as a stand-up comedian and on a number of reality shows, including "The Weakest Link," "Celebrity Boxing 2," "Celebrity Fit Club," "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling," and "Celebrity Big Brother." While on "Celebrity Fit Club," he got into a fight with castmates Kimberley Locke from "American Idol," country singer Cledus T. Judd, rapper Da Brat, the show's host, and the show's personal trainer, former USMC sergeant Harvey Walden IV.

Diamond also appeared in a number of films, including 2001's "Made," 2003's "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," 2009's "American Pie Presents: The Book of Love," 2010's "Tetherball: The Movie," and 2014's "Hamlet A.D.D."

Diamond published the inside story of "Saved by the Bell's" cast and crew called "Behind the Bell" in 2009. The book painted an unflattering picture of Diamond's castmates and their alleged sordid behavior backstage. Mark-Paul Gosselaar spoke out against the book, saying that his experience on "Saved by the Bell" was positive, and he never witnessed any of the so-called incidents Diamond detailed in his book. In the book, Diamond also claims to have had sex with 2,000 women, among them the VP of NBC's children's programming, Linda Mancuso, who is 18 years older than Dustin. During a December 2013 interview on an episode of "Where Are They Now," Dustin claimed that the author of the book lied and was made up or exaggerated by the ghostwriter. Mancuso has never addressed the rumors.

Diamond started the alternative metal band Salty The Pocketknife, for which he played bass and wrote most of the music. They broke up due to infighting shortly after recording their first album.

Saved By The Bell Earnings

Dustin likely earned several million dollars from his commercial career and "Saved by the Bell." All of those earnings came before he turned 18 in 1995. Dustin would later claim in interviews that the vast majority of his earnings were wasted by his parents. Thanks to the Jackie Coogan Law, his parents were required to set aside 25% of his earnings for when he turned 18. For Dustin, that amounted to "a couple hundred thousand dollars."

Dustin's father, Mark, has responded to those claims in interviews as well. According to Mark, after Dustin's agent took 10%, "anything left over, we had to cover certain things, like taxes, gasoline, obviously, headshots. Every fan letter wanted the same things – 'Can you send us an 8×10 picture, autographed?' Thousands of letters. See, we had to pay for that. This didn't leave much money for us to do anything. In fact, nothing.

The residuals were also basically nothing. In a documentary after Dustin's death, one of his friends showed a $12 residual check for 2002.

Mark Mainz/Getty Images

Personal Life

Diamond married his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Misner in 2009. They later separated.

He got engaged to professional clown Amanda Schutz sometime before their 2014 arrests. As a clown, she goes by Loli Pop the Clown and provides entertainment for children's parties. In her role as the clown, Schutz appeared in an episode of "The Real Housewives of New York City."

He hosted the 12th annual Gathering of the Juggalos, the fan festival for the band the Insane Clown Posse.

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Legal & Financial Problems

In 2001, Diamond filed for bankruptcy in California. On June 13, 2006, Diamond appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" and asked listeners to visit his website and purchase a t-shirt that read "I paid $15.00 to save Screech's house" in order to raise $250,000 and avoid foreclosure on his house.

In December 2014, Diamond was arrested after a barroom brawl incident in Port Washington, Wisconsin, after he allegedly stabbed another patron with a switchblade in an altercation involving his fiancée. Both Diamond and his fiancée are facing disorderly conduct.

Over the years, the State of Wisconsin filed Tax Warrants against Diamond totaling $82,156, and in 2014, he was found to owe $40,000 to the Electrical Construction Industry Board of Wisconsin.

Sex Tape

"Screeched – Saved by the Smell," a sex tape allegedly starring Diamond, was released. However, in an interview for "Where Are They Now" on OWN, he claimed a stunt double was in the movie, and his face was added in post-production.

Real Estate

Diamond's house at the time of his death was in the Spinnaker West subdivision in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His house, built in 2003, is a two-story Cape Cod-style home with 2,700 square feet, four bedrooms, and three bathrooms. It's on a .55-acre lot. The home's value is around $312,000. In July 2020, Diamond's home was reportedly facing foreclosure. The home was being sold "as is" and was described as a rehab project. In the winter of 2019, a pipe burst and caused extensive damage to the main floor and basement. The home was being sold for $280,000. Diamond bought the home for $272,000. The home had been vacant for more than a year as Diamond reportedly moved to Florida.

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